Student Comments- 2014

Thank you for everything in the class. You really opened up our eyes to a lot of actual applicable concepts, which I truly appreciate. I'll see you next week at Commencement! I might have to crack open some Vegemite to celebrate.

I just want to thank you so much for all your help this year. It waa such a pleasure having you as my teacher. You have taught me a lot and I do feel more prepared to continue my education.

I hope to see you around campus next year . Thank you again for all you patience with me. I appreciate it and it did not go unnoticed. There are not professors like you, that are so helpful.

Very rewarding assignment. My dad and two brothers are BMW enthusiasts, so they know everything about the company, but it was fun to actually teach them a thing or two about the topic!

Thank you again for all the help and guidance you have given me. I appreciate it beyond words.

Just wanted to thank you for providing a reference. I did receive the Marketing Specialist position and just finished my first day. Hope all is well!

Professor Gopal, It has been awhile since I've been in your class and I hope you are doing well!  I am emailing you today because I am wondering if there are any marketing courses you offer--other than business 230.  I am progressing through my courses as an accounting major fairly quickly and I have some flexibility in my schedule.  With all of the accounting courses I have been taking lately, I am feeling deprived of the 'organic' aspect of business and wish to balance out my curriculum with a few courses in other areas.  I felt as though I gained applicable, real-world knowledge in the two classes I previously took with you, so if you have any upcoming recommendations for the Fall, J-term, or Spring of next school year, let me know. .. SJ.

I hope all is going well. Things have been going well for me and I was recently accepted into the LeaderShape program here at Elmhurst College. This program is a small retreat that I take with other students from Elmhurst and learn how to be a better leader. With this program I need to have a mentor before going. I have been thinking about it for a while now and I forgot to ask you in person when I saw you. It would be really great if you could be my mentor. I feel I can learn a lot from you and continue to grow my knowledge in the business world and more. Let me know if you would like to do this or if you have any questions I have some more information I can send to you about being a mentor. I would be really honored if you would be my mentor. ..EM

Thank you again for what was a great semester Prof Gopal - you really are a great person and I was very fortunate to have you in class in my final semester. JK

Overall this was one of the best classes that I have ever had, especially because it pertains to my major.  Before this class, I thought I knew a lot of about marketing, but I didn't even know the beginning of the subject.  You taught me valuable information that has already made me a better marketer and you taught me that I will never stop learning marketing concepts and how to market.  I want to thank you for a great class and for helping me better my future as a marketer.  I have accepted a position at my internship called ....  and I will be working with marketing.  The insights and information that I have learned from this class will better my future and quality at work for this company.   MS

Just wanted to take the time to say that I really enjoyed the class lecture today. It was much different than any other lecture I have ever been apart of - a perfect combination of lecture/insight from you, dialogue and discussion between class and yourself, as well as great use of video and digital mediums to help explain a point or topic. Particularly, I really enjoyed how it was all one flowing lecture. What I mean by that - each video you showed had very peculiar point to it that set up the next topic of discussion or video very well - it flowed almost seamlessly and I really really appreciated that. The videos were a great touch. It's not often that students take time to offer feedback outside of the end-course review which of course is too late. You seem like someone who is open to feedback, so I figured I'd offer a student's perspective prior to the end of the course. Thank you for contributing to a great final semester here at Elmhurst, one that will certainly not be forgotten. JK

Make Shareholders Pay for a Company's Crimes - Bloomberg View

Make Shareholders Pay for a Company's Crimes - Bloomberg View: "But lets move on to the dishonest thesis of “punishing the shareholders” for the acts of management. Who else are you going to fine?

These are not innocent bystanders, caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs. They are the people who actually elected this management team in the first place. They are also the only ones with the power to fire these people as well. To suggest that they are merely bystanders of a drive-by shooting is absurd. Unless we want corporate shareholders to elect more dangerous executives. If that is your position, than by all means, never fine or punish them."



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Customer creates Starbucks' most expensive drink

Customer creates Starbucks' most expensive drink: "Even Starbucks' most avid fans haven't seen the likes of the Sexagintuple Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappuccino.
Consumerist reported that the 128-ounce concoction, complete with 60 espresso shots and a cocktail of sweet flavors, cost $54.75, making it the most expensive single drink ever made at Starbucks to Consumerist's knowledge.

Despite the high price tag, the customer who ordered it paid nothing. The customer, who goes by Andrew on Twitter, used a free drink earned from the company's loyalty program to pay for it."



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Snap-Sh*te

Snapchat CEO ‘Mortified’ by Leaked Stanford Frat E-Mails - Bloomberg: "Snapchat Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel apologized for e-mails he sent during his fraternity days that celebrated getting drunk and convincing sorority women to perform sexual acts.

The profanity-laced e-mails were published today by Gawker Media LLC’s Valleywag blog and mostly related to Spiegel organizing Stanford University fraternity parties for Kappa Sigma in 2009 and 2010. In one missive, Spiegel recounts being so drunk he peed on a woman in bed with him.

“I’m obviously mortified and embarrassed that my idiotic e-mails during my fraternity days were made public,” Spiegel said in an e-mailed statement. “I have no excuse. I’m sorry I wrote them at the time and I was jerk to have written them. They in no way reflect who I am today or my views towards women.”"



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Flying Female Executives Seek Privacy on Overnight Trips - Bloomberg

Flying Female Executives Seek Privacy on Overnight Trips - Bloomberg: "Before Cristina Monteiro, a managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), flies abroad, she first checks to see where her colleagues will be sitting -- and then chooses her own seat on the other side of the plane.

“I don’t want to sleep with anyone from my office,” said Monteiro, 53, about the prospect of having a male co-worker as a seatmate on an overnight flight. “I’m very upfront about it. It’s awkward.”"



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From tragedy to farce: Labour’s big mistakes in 1918 and 2011 - Political News | Irish & International Politics | The Irish Times - Tue, May 27, 2014

From tragedy to farce: Labour’s big mistakes in 1918 and 2011 - Political News | Irish & International Politics | The Irish Times - Tue, May 27, 2014: "At a number of levels, Sinn Féin’s operation south of the Border has been hugely impressive. It deserves great credit for what it has not done: exploiting anti-immigrant and anti-Traveller prejudice in a way that would have yielded quick dividends. (Sinn Féin is the reason that Ireland, almost uniquely, does not have a far-right populist party.)
It has taken gender balance far more seriously than any of the other main parties. It has done a superb job of bringing new, younger candidates and activists into politics. It has articulated, especially through Pearse Doherty, a substantial critique of the bank bailout. After a very poor start, it has enormously improved its performance in the Dáil. These are real democratic achievements."



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From tragedy to farce: Labour’s big mistakes in 1918 and 2011 - Political News | Irish & International Politics | The Irish Times - Tue, May 27, 2014

From tragedy to farce: Labour’s big mistakes in 1918 and 2011 - Political News | Irish & International Politics | The Irish Times - Tue, May 27, 2014: "At a number of levels, Sinn Féin’s operation south of the Border has been hugely impressive. It deserves great credit for what it has not done: exploiting anti-immigrant and anti-Traveller prejudice in a way that would have yielded quick dividends. (Sinn Féin is the reason that Ireland, almost uniquely, does not have a far-right populist party.)
It has taken gender balance far more seriously than any of the other main parties. It has done a superb job of bringing new, younger candidates and activists into politics. It has articulated, especially through Pearse Doherty, a substantial critique of the bank bailout. After a very poor start, it has enormously improved its performance in the Dáil. These are real democratic achievements."



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Too many antibiotics could spoil your gut - Family News & Advice | Parenting, Marriage & Kids | The Irish Tim - Mon, May 26, 2014

Too many antibiotics could spoil your gut - Family News & Advice | Parenting, Marriage & Kids | The Irish Tim - Mon, May 26, 2014: "A leading gastroenterologist warns that the use of antibiotics to treat digestive health problems is a major public health issue. Prof Eamonn Quigley, who is a principal investigator at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) at University College Cork (UCC), the head of gastroenterology at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, and a former president of the World Gastroenterology Organisation, says the pendulum has swung too far in terms of the propensity to turn to antibiotics to treat ailments.
Speaking to The Irish Times in advance of Thursday’s World Digestive Health Day, he says, “If you look back over the past 100 years or so, we have gone from a phase of having nothing to combat infection to having a vast selection of antibiotics available to us to treat all sorts of infections.
“That was obviously great progress from a medical point of view, but the problem that has arisen now is that antibiotics have become overused."



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Getting crushe by the B(o)zos of Amazon- lessons for all consumers

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/amazon-escalates-its-battle-against-hachette/?_php=true&_type=blogs&hp&_r=0

Amazon’s power over the publishing and bookselling industries is unrivaled in the modern era. Now it has started wielding that might in a more brazen way than ever before.

Seeking ever-higher payments from publishers
to bolster its anemic bottom line, Amazon is holding books and authors
hostage on two continents by delaying shipments and raising prices. The
literary community is fearful and outraged — and practically begging for
government intervention.

“How is this not extortion? You know, the
thing that is illegal when the Mafia does it,” asked Dennis Loy Johnson
of Melville House, echoing remarks being made across social media.

Climate change research shows pockets of warming around world - Politics - CBC News

Climate change research shows pockets of warming around world - Politics - CBC News: "The world is getting warmer, but it's not happening at same pace around the globe, according to research by scientists at Florida State University.

The research also suggests the greatest warming is happening in a swath of the world including Canada. 

The team of four scientists used new techniques to measure the short- and long-term fluctuations in land and surface air temperatures from the year 1900 onward.

This let them show for the first time in more detail how different regions around the world have different rates of warming and, in some cases, cooling.

The team from FSU's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) was able to add more detail to what scientists already know about how Earth is warming, said Zhaohua Wu, one of the lead authors of the study.

Warming not uniform

"We tried to fill in the gaps," Wu said in a phone interview with CBC News.

"What is significant is that it is not uniform.""



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Beating the sizzling heat, the Delhi Zoo way - The Hindu

Beating the sizzling heat, the Delhi Zoo way - The Hindu: "Water-rich food laced with ayurvedic medicines and a bread free diet is being provided to over 1,300 inmates of the Delhi Zoo to beat the heat and stay healthy.

The birds and animals in the 240-acre park are also being kept cool by use of water sprinklers and coolers.

Elaborating on the steps being taken to make the inmates comfortable during the summer months, veterinary officer Dr. Paneer Selvam said: “For the summer we have taken-off bread from the diet plan and replaced it with rice, milk and sugar which is lighter and more nutritious for the animals.”

“Also water-rich fruits, including melon, cucumber, leafy vegetable have been brought in to ensure that the diet is not heavy for the animals and that they stay comfortable during the harsh summer months in Delhi,” he added. “While the larger animals are given coolers and fans, water sprinklers will be switched on for larger birds, including emu, ostrich etc. We are also providing cool fumes for Asiatic birds to control the humidity levels in their enclosures,’’ said Dr. Selvam."



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Deutsche Bank Warns Employees Against Boastful Behavior - Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank Warns Employees Against Boastful Behavior - Bloomberg: "Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Germany’s biggest bank, warned employees in an internal video that their behavior in conversations and e-mails is “falling way short” of its standards, as the company faces regulatory scrutiny.

“Being boastful, indiscreet and vulgar is not ok,” Colin Fan, co-head of the German lender’s investment bank, said in the video, published by the Financial Times. “It will have serious consequences for your career. Our reputation is everything.”"



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Even Less to Like About Flying Coach - Bloomberg View

Even Less to Like About Flying Coach - Bloomberg View: "In Capital in the 21st Century, economist Thomas Piketty provides data that show conclusively that our current level of economic inequality now is comparable to that at the start of the 20th-century -- before two world wars, a Great Depression, and the reforms of the New Deal and European social democracy produced a more broadly shared prosperity.

A comparison of today’s airliners with the great fin-de-siecle passenger ships would reveal a similar disparity in their treatment of passengers -- lavish accommodations for first class, and the bulk of the passengers in steerage. As a socio-economic tract, Titanic could be remade today set on an airliner."



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So saturated fat is okay again? Not so fast - Science News | Daily News from The Irish Times - Thu, May 15, 2014

So saturated fat is okay again? Not so fast - Science News | Daily News from The Irish Times - Thu, May 15, 2014: "owever, a big new international study – by Dr Rajiv Chowdhury and others, Annals of Internal Medicine (2014) – has found no evidence that eating saturated fat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. I would advise that you note this information with a wry smile and file it away for future reference rather than lashing with gay abandon into regular large steaks with floury potatoes smothered in butter on the side, and followed by a comprehensive cheese plate."



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Ryanair- a model of change?

Ryanair has axed a net 222 routes for this summer - Tourism News | Travel & Tourism Industry News | The Irish Times - Wed, May 14, 2014: "Using data obtained from Innovata, the company to which most global airlines report changes to their route networks, the website has found that Ryanair axed a net 222 routes for this summer, even after launching 138 new routes. Most of the routes axed are to outlying airport.
The analysis underscores how much the airline is shifting its capacity to some of the biggest airports in major European cities, which it typically eschewed until the company changed its model last year after a series of profit warnings.
Using analysis of all of Ryanair’s routes for August 2014 compared with the same month last year, anna.aero says Ryanair axed its flights from 10 European airports, including Doncaster in England, as well as several tiny airports in southern Sweden. Capacity has been dramatically scaled back at scores of other airports. Another 10 airports have been added to its network, most of which are the main airports at some of the biggest cities in Europe, such as Rome’s Fiumicino, Brussels, Athens, Lisbon and Prague."



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Chipotle's CEOs - getting their hands into the burritos and tacos jar

Chipotle's CEOs Made An Astounding Amount Of Money Last Year - Yahoo Finance: "Chipotle's business is booming, a nd the burrito chain's co-CEOs are being paid handsomely for it. 

Steve Ells and Monty Moran made a combined $58 million last year, according to James Covert at The New York Post. 

Covert writes that proxy advisory firm ISS wants shareholders to vote against the compensation package at the May 15 annual meeting. 

"A combined $58 million in CEO pay for a fast food company isn’t just excessive — it’s indefensible," New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer told the Post."



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IBM- Female CEO turns the screw on older employees

Old, Fired at IBM: Trendsetter Offers Workers Arbitration - Bloomberg: "This disclosure helps fired employees determine if they have an age-discrimination case, and it’s required by U.S. federal law for workers over 40 if a company wants the person to agree not to file such a lawsuit. Now IBM is withholding the information, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. It’s avoiding the disclosure requirement by offering workers the option of bringing claims in arbitration.

Although employees are now able to accept a severance agreement and maintain their ability to bring an age-discrimination claim in arbitration, the strategy could make it harder and riskier for dismissed older employees to decide whether it’s worth taking on the cost of a legal battle, lawyers and labor law experts say. And many older workers are already feeling vulnerable in a still anemic economic recovery, said Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank affiliated with labor. IBM, considered a pioneer in employee benefits, may be one of the first major companies to make these changes in severance agreements."



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New frog species found in troubled Indian habitat - The Hindu

New frog species found in troubled Indian habitat - The Hindu: "Scientists have discovered 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs in the Western Ghats, just in time, they fear, to watch them fade away.

Indian biologists say they found the tiny acrobatic amphibians, which earned their name with the unusual kicks they use to attract mates, declining dramatically in number during the 12 years in which they chronicled the species through morphological descriptions and molecular DNA markers. They breed after the yearly monsoon in fast-rushing streams, but their habitat appears to be becoming increasingly dry."



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Want to fly from a smaller city? Good luck!

Airline Mergers Bring Deep Service Cuts to Small and Midsize Airports - Businessweek: "Now there’s new data (pdf) on all the flight cuts during the wave of mergers over the past seven years, courtesy of the Government Accountability Office. In the process of building this week’s report on air service to small communities, federal researchers tallied the overall changes in airline service since 2007. Nearly three dozen midsize airports—in such places as Milwaukee, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and San Antonio—lost nearly one-quarter of their flights in the period. A group of 76 small airports lost 20 percent of their pre-2007 flights. And 23 airports lost all their air service."



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